George w



(No Mddel.)

'G- W. YOUNG. SPRINKLER HEAD.

No. 452,329. Patented May 12,1891.

@XWWWWWO) UNITED STATE PATENT OFFIQE.

GEORGE V. YOUNG, OF MILIVAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO GEORGE KNOWLES, JR, OF SAME PLACE.

SPRINKLER-HEAD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 452,329, dated May 12, 1891. Application filed July 15, 1890. Serial No. 358,834. (No model.)

To all whom it may corucrn: It is the object of my invention to remedy, Be it known that I, GEORGE W. YOUNG, of and avoid the above defects and to provide Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee, and connections which shall be brought into operin the State of \Visconsin, have invented ceration automatically by the heat generated by 5 tain new and useful Improvements in Sprinkthe confiagration, and which shall act posiler-Heads; and I do hereby declare that the tively (should all other means fail) to open following is a full, clear, and exact dcscripthe valve. These results I attain by virtue tion thereof. of the construction which I will now proceed My invention relates to appliances for auto describe. [O toinatically discharging Water upon burning In the said drawings, A designates a branch portions of buildings and other structures in pipe of a sprinkler system, to which is atthe event of conflagration therein; and my tached the pipe ornozzle B of a sprinklerinvention consists in certain peculiar and head, the discharge-opening O at the outer novel features of construction and arrangeend of said pipe being turned upward and I 5 ment, as hereinafter described, and pointed planed off to form a seat for a cup or valve D. out in the appended claims. E E designate ears depending from nozzle In order that my invention may be fully B adjacent to the discharge-opening O of the understood, I will proceed to describe it with same, and in the lower part of each of which reference to the accompanying drawings, in is formed a socket e, in which an arm or le- 20 whichver F is trunnioned, as at H H, the upper end Figure l. is a side elevation of a sprinklerof the lever being bent at right angles to its head, with parts in section, constructed in acmain portion, and is providedrwith a screwcordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a verthreaded eye f to receive a set screw G, tical section of the same on line 2 2 of Fig. 1, which is also screwed into cap D and carried 25 showing sprinkler-head attached to a branch by the same. The lever F, between its rightpipe of a sprinkler system. angle portion which carries the cap and the In the class of sprinklersystelns to which my trunnions II, is weighted, as at I, and expresent invention is particularly designed to tending from the trunnions at about right be applied the water-supply is normally cut angles to this weighted arm of said lever is 30 off from the riser and branch pipes, which are another arm .I, which terminates in an upfilled with compressed air, and to the diswardly-beveled end The depending ears chargeopenings of the branch pipes are at- E E of the nozzle B being offset from the lattached the sprinkler-heads, the valves of ter, the adjustment of the cap-screw will not which are held closedbysuitable mechanism. tend to swing the lever F on its trunnions, 35 WVhen a fire occurs the valve mechanism is reand consequently the arm J of said lever is leased by an expansible plug, a fusible link unaffected when said ad ustment takes place. allowing the compressed air to unseat the From the lower end of ear E and projectvalve and escape, and the water-supply being ing inwardly is a foot, L, which carries a bellautomatically released it fills the branch crank trip-lever M, one arm n of which is 0 4o pipes, and is discharged through the valvebeveled at its outer end to correspond with openings of the sprinkler-head where the fire the bevel j of lever-arm .I and normally enis located. Should the fire spread, the pipes gages the same, while the other arm 0 of the being new filled with water under pressure, trip-lever extends to a point near the fulthe other sprinkler-valves when released are crum and in opposition to said lever-arm J. 5 5 opened by the water-pressure. The trip-lever may be ad ustably connected In practice it has been found that the with the foot L by means of the stud K, to valves after periods of disuse corrode, and which it IS pivoted, and aset-screw N, engagwhen a fire occurs the air'pressure is not sufing the stud. Screwed into foot L is a therficient in all cases to open the Valve, even mo-inotor having its piston Q arranged to mo 50 though the spring of the metal composing impinge against the arm 0 ofthe trip-lever.

the valve-controlling mechanism is utilized. The thermo-motor shown is one of those comprising a chamber provided with a piston and filled behind said piston with a material that is solid and fixed under ordinary temperatures, but which softens and expands under heat and drives the piston forward. As a thermo-motor of this description is well known in the art and forms the subject of Letters Patent No. 367,243: of July 26, 1887, detail illustration is deemed unnecessary.

Suspended directly over the dischargeopening by a standard rising from nozzle 1; is a deflector e.

The operation of my device is as follows: \Vhen the parts are in their normal position, (shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings) the cap D has an independent adjustment by means of screw G on its seat, and by the position of the lever-fulcrum H with relation to the discharge-opening the cap D when tightened against its seat binds lever F at its fulcrumpoint, exerting only sufficient pressure at the end of lever-arm J to prevent the trip-lever from being released by any jarring. If it is desired to test the system, the cap D can be loosened from its seat by means of screws G or N, rendering it unnecessary to remove the same.

hen a fire occurs, the heat, acting on the thermo-motor, causes the piston Q of the same to exert pressure against the arm 0 of the trip-lever M, and as the latter is thus tilted on its fulcrum the arm n meets a certain amount of resistance on the part of the arm J of the cap-lever F, this resistance being due to the opposing beveled portions of said arms of the trip and cap levers. The stop (7, near the discharge-opening O of the nozzle B, prevents any strain of the lever F on the cap D during the time the arm J of said lever is resisting the tilt of the lever M on its fulcrum, and consequently that portion of the cap-lever below said stop must yield to the pressure of the trip-lever M, this yield being due to theinherent elasticity of the material of which said cap-lever is composed. The lever M having passed out of contact with the one F, there is a reactionary spring of the latter to start the cap D from its seat, after which this latter lever is swung on its fulcrum by the weighted portion 1 and the pressure in the sprinkler system to thus bring said cap clear of the nozzle-outlet C to permit the escape of water.

As it may happen that the reactionary spring of the cap-lever F will not be sufficient to start the cap D from its seat, the continued rise of the thermo-motor piston Q will bring the arm 0 of the trip-lever M against the arm J of said cap-lever to thereby exert positive force sufficient at all times to unseat said cap.

Having thus described myinvention, what Iclaim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a fire-extinguishing sprinkler, the combination, witha nozzle, of a cap arranged to cover the outlet thereof, a lever fastened to the cap, a bell-crank trip-lever having one arm thereof normally engaging said cap-lever, and a thermo-motor arranged to exert pressure against the other arm of the trip-lever, substantially as set forth.

2. In a fire-extinguishing sprinkler, the combination, with a nozzle,of a cap arranged to cover the outlet thereof, a trunnioned lever controlling the cap and having an arm terminated in an upwardly-beveled end, a bell-crank trip-lever having one of its arms provided with a beveled portion normally in frictional contact with the beveled end of said cap-lever arm, and a thermo-motor arranged to exert pressure against the other arm of the trip-lever, substantially as set forth.

3. In a fireextinguishing sprinkler, the combination, with anozzle,of a cap arranged to cover the outlet thereof, a lever to control the cap, a bell-crank trip-lever adjustable as to elevation and having one arm thereof normally engaging said cap-lever, and a thermomotor arranged to exert force against the other arm of the trip-lever, substantially as set forth.

4. In a fire-extinguishing sprinkler, the combination, with a nozzle, ofa cap arranged to cover the outlet thereof, ears depending from the nozzle and offset therefrom, a lever trunnioned in the ears and overhanging the cap at one end, a screw adjustable in this'end of the lever against the cap, an arm extended approximately at right angles from the cap-lever, atrip-lever engaging this arm, and a thermo-motor arranged to actuate the trip-lever, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand, at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of VViscousin, in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE W. YOUNG.

Witnesses:

N. E. OLIPHANT, WM. KLUG. 

